Rat(s) Getting into House!

Long story short(er) - A few night ago I was in the kitchen and saw a Rat (!) across the room, which ran my direction and ducked in-between the dishwasher and fridge where I suspect there must be a hole that goes to the crawl space. Last year some "scratching" was heard back there, but after tossing some repellent behind the fridge the noises went away and there did not seem to be a successful invasion. Seeing this thing proved that at some point obviously, something broke in and has been "exploring" around. There are no droppings anywhere and nothing on the kitchen countertop (bread, etc) has been bothered, so it wasn't living in the house, most likely just coming up from the crawl space, looking around, then going back. Still, something you do NOT wanna see when you go to the fridge. I was told by someone that when Rats are in their exploring mode, many folks may actually have them and not even be aware of it, especially if like me, they're just snooping around but then leaving for the crawl space and not actually living in the main house.

So, I put down one of those claw/jaw type traps. Next day, snap, the Rat is caught. However, my instincts (laugh if you want) said, "put another trap down". I did. Two hours later I hear a loud snap - a second Rat is in it, - this one not completely dead and making noises you don't want to hear. I had to shoot it with a BB gun to kill it. I put another trap down and the next night, you guessed it, snap, another one caught; same deal, not fully killed, had to shoot it too. Ok, now I'm over it.

So someone is coming over tomorrow to help me get the fridge out (it's an oversized one that is wedged in the space so it's a two person job to move it). The hole(s) are going to be stuffed with steel wool and a layer of sheet metal is going to be put down over the floor to prevent more holes from being created in that area. I tossed Rat poison under the crawl space as well - yes I know, that's not always the most recommended thing to do for various reasons, but I have no pets/kids and I was getting desperate.

So here's my question: Have any of you had a Rat or Rats actually make their way into your house, and if so, how did you deal with it? Home solutions? Just trap them? Poisons, or did you call a professional company to do it, and if so, how much did it cost as I've heard this kind of thing can rack up $$$? The hole plug is just a quick fix for this, the poisons may work or may not, so I may need to call someone. P.S.... no, I'm not going to get Cats (I know that'll come up). lol

We had a neighbor back in the winter move out from across the street. They had not been having garbage collection for several months, I assumed they were taking it to the dump, anyway, about a week after they moved out we started noticing mice (not rats) near our garage. We had always kept our dog and cat food in the garage in the bags they came in and never had a problem. We then noticed holes in the bags, so we got plastic containers, but we still saw the mice. At that point we cleaned out our garage. It had gotten a bit messy being used as storage. When we cleaned out the garage we noticed a old bag of bird feed that was in a corner, and a lot of droppings around the bag, apparently the mice had migrated to our house when our neighbors moved out and had been living off this forgotten bag of bird seed. So we cleaned everything out, we put out glue traps and the snap traps, and we put out poison boxes that the kids and animals couldn't get into. Within the first 24 hours I think we had 5 dead mice either in traps or dead in the yard from the poison. After that we never saw any again, and we never saw any in the house, however we did hear scratching in the walls a couple times near the garage.

I was worried about using the poison because I thought the mice would die in the house, but someone told me that the poision makes them want water so they leave the house in search of water and therefore do not die in the walls. Which also meant that we should only put the poison out during dry periods.

I should point out that this isn't a trash/neighbor issue to my knowledge. All neighbors are living in their homes, all lawns are cut, no trash being left out, etc. Not "dirty" in my house as well, and I have bread and a closed box of crackers on the countertop and they've not been touched - and again, no Rat droppings anywhere visible in the house or behind furniture (I've looked). I've heard that this time of year, especially when it's dry, they explore around looking for water though, and/or places to have babies (ugh).

We had a neighbor back in the winter move out from across the street. They had not been having garbage collection for several months, I assumed they were taking it to the dump, anyway, about a week after they moved out we started noticing mice (not rats) near our garage. We had always kept our dog and cat food in the garage in the bags they came in and never had a problem. We then noticed holes in the bags, so we got plastic containers, but we still saw the mice. At that point we cleaned out our garage. It had gotten a bit messy being used as storage. When we cleaned out the garage we noticed a old bag of bird feed that was in a corner, and a lot of droppings around the bag, apparently the mice had migrated to our house when our neighbors moved out and had been living off this forgotten bag of bird seed. So we cleaned everything out, we put out glue traps and the snap traps, and we put out poison boxes that the kids and animals couldn't get into. Within the first 24 hours I think we had 5 dead mice either in traps or dead in the yard from the poison. After that we never saw any again, and we never saw any in the house, however we did hear scratching in the walls a couple times near the garage.

I was worried about using the poison because I thought the mice would die in the house, but someone told me that the poision makes them want water so they leave the house in search of water and therefore do not die in the walls. Which also meant that we should only put the poison out during dry periods.

My thoughts on poison is,if they go outside to die,what if they are eaten by neighborhood cats? What about children in the house? I had a friend back in the 70's who put decon rat poison out ,a week later put her foot in a shoe that had a dead poisoned mouse inside the toe of the shoe. I think traps would be the way to go, we put glue traps in our garage recently, trapped them pretty quickly, no mess, no poison.

Normally when we notice mice it is because it is fixing to get cold. At least that is when we notice them. My cat caught a little mouse in our house the other day, we did not even know we had it. Our cats got angry at us because they where fighting over who was going to get to play with the little mousey, We took it away killed it and tossed it in the backyard/woods. We also put out a few traps behind fridge and dishwasher. So far we have gotten nothing.

We normally don't have a mouse problem, only because we have always had house cats. There are about a half dozen cats running around our neighborhood. So out side they normally are not a problem either.

Notes to reply: In the past used glue traps for mice and while they're convenient, finding something that's still alive stuck to one is kinda gross. And to be honest, I put a Rat sized glue trap next to the jaw trap "just in case" and I saw Rat feet marks across it last night. One of them literally ran across the sticky part and didn't get stuck (??).

The T-Rex traps. The traps I had been using are the Tomcat ones from Lowes - same design, basically. They've worked for the most part except that as I said, 2 out of 3 of the Rats were not fully killed. Had to restock and at Home Depot they had a slightly different brand/design so haven't caught anything in that one yet to see how it works. The T-Rex is sold online at Amazon and the reviews are ok, except people say they break after a few uses (but I dispose of the trap after it's used either way). I have an electronic Rat zapper that someone let me use, but it didn't work (yet), though online reviews say they do.

Poison: Last resort for me, but yes, I did toss some into the crawl space. Sorry. If there are 25 Rats under there I'm not able to literally catch each and every one with traps until it's "over". No kids/pets in the house any longer, and nor are there any at my neighbor's, and to my knowledge no stray Cats around this season. The resident Hawk was chased away by a family of Crows, but I suppose a dead poisoned Rat could be a danger to them. Hopefully it won't happen. After the third Rat I was getting desperate - these are NOT tiny Rats.

Has anyone in here ever used a pro service to get rid of a Mouse or Rat problem? I'm just curious how much it costs. They won't even give you a range of prices over the phone as they want to come out to do an inspection, etc. I'm just trying to get a rough estimate of the range. I've read some stories online where some folks paid upwards of $1,500.00 (!) for such a service, though. yikes.

We actually got a small animal trap and trapped it. Then we stuffed paper and plastic into the hole. Pressure washed around the foundation to remove any scent trail.

Our problem wasn't rats or mice but possums.

Long story short(er) - A few night ago I was in the kitchen and saw a Rat (!) across the room, which ran my direction and ducked in-between the dishwasher and fridge where I suspect there must be a hole that goes to the crawl space. Last year some "scratching" was heard back there, but after tossing some repellent behind the fridge the noises went away and there did not seem to be a successful invasion. Seeing this thing proved that at some point obviously, something broke in and has been "exploring" around. There are no droppings anywhere and nothing on the kitchen countertop (bread, etc) has been bothered, so it wasn't living in the house, most likely just coming up from the crawl space, looking around, then going back. Still, something you do NOT wanna see when you go to the fridge. I was told by someone that when Rats are in their exploring mode, many folks may actually have them and not even be aware of it, especially if like me, they're just snooping around but then leaving for the crawl space and not actually living in the main house.

So, I put down one of those claw/jaw type traps. Next day, snap, the Rat is caught. However, my instincts (laugh if you want) said, "put another trap down". I did. Two hours later I hear a loud snap - a second Rat is in it, - this one not completely dead and making noises you don't want to hear. I had to shoot it with a BB gun to kill it. I put another trap down and the next night, you guessed it, snap, another one caught; same deal, not fully killed, had to shoot it too. Ok, now I'm over it.

So someone is coming over tomorrow to help me get the fridge out (it's an oversized one that is wedged in the space so it's a two person job to move it). The hole(s) are going to be stuffed with steel wool and a layer of sheet metal is going to be put down over the floor to prevent more holes from being created in that area. I tossed Rat poison under the crawl space as well - yes I know, that's not always the most recommended thing to do for various reasons, but I have no pets/kids and I was getting desperate.

So here's my question: Have any of you had a Rat or Rats actually make their way into your house, and if so, how did you deal with it? Home solutions? Just trap them? Poisons, or did you call a professional company to do it, and if so, how much did it cost as I've heard this kind of thing can rack up $$$? The hole plug is just a quick fix for this, the poisons may work or may not, so I may need to call someone. P.S.... no, I'm not going to get Cats (I know that'll come up). lol

In loving memory of Mason (December 1, 2001 to December 9, 2001) and Ashley Jr. (December 1, 2001 to December 2, 2001

My thoughts on poison is,if they go outside to die,what if they are eaten by neighborhood cats? What about children in the house? I had a friend back in the 70's who put decon rat poison out ,a week later put her foot in a shoe that had a dead poisoned mouse inside the toe of the shoe. I think traps would be the way to go, we put glue traps in our garage recently, trapped them pretty quickly, no mess, no poison.

My brother-in-law is a semi-retired bugman, and he has always recommended neck breakers for mice and rats. Don't throw out the trap with the vermin though, rats and mice are more attracted to a used trap. Bait them heavily with peanut butter. You can even use the peanut butter to lube the release action if it is sticky. What I think you will find is that our current cool spell,(if you want to call it that), is causing vermin to search for winter shelter. Nature forces them to go someplace warm, and dry, after which they forage for food.
Cats are a good deterrent, but if you can't stand cats, try a yappy a$$ little dog. Jack Russells are great mouse/rat/possum killers, and if you find the right one, they'll kill cats. Be advised that Possums do not understand intimidation. Our dogs might kill a half dozen a year, and they just keep coming back for more dog/cat food. GOOD LUCK!

"If ever you are in need of advice, please allow me to be the first to apprise you of your mistakes."

When we bought our house, we found out it had previously been used as a rental house and apparently it wasn't the cleanest. We had mice...and quite a few of them.
Being young newly weds and not knowing any better, my husband put poison in the crawl space. As someone said before, the poison makes them search out water. However, in our case, they did not leave the house in search of water, they crawled up into the walls around the pipes looking for it and died.
OMG you want to talk about a horrible smell...UGH!!! And as someone said before, it lasts for weeks and weeks and nothing can neutralize or mask it!
I realize you can't undo the poison you've already put out, but I would seriously stick with traps from now on.
That's a smell I'll NEVER forget.

I can tell you when I was younger I could catch a mouse quicker than a cat. However i know rats and mice are different but same premise..To plug any holes you can bust up a glass bottle and take plaster of paris and mix together and plug the hole and the mice or rat will not be able to eat through it. I use to live in a mobile home and had plenty of experience plugging all those holes. Good luck....I have a friend Russell Bennett from Bennetts pest control that is very nice informal guy who could help you with that..let me know if you need someone and I will get his number for you. goood luck

Not like the one we had. He loved to PLAY with mice, rats, squirrels, chipmunks, birds, snakes. He loved to BRING them to you. Kill them? He preferred not to. Wimpy cat. Gosh I miss that little guy, too.

Cat

In loving memory of Mason (December 1, 2001 to December 9, 2001) and Ashley Jr. (December 1, 2001 to December 2, 2001

Someone came over today and fixed the area. Basic story - the floor under the dishwasher had rotted out leaving a large gaping hole under it directly down 18" through the crawlspace. The Rats were coming up there, under the dishwasher, and then coming through a gap that surrounded a water line that goes to the fridge and then coming into the house via that route. There was no evidence of poop behind any of the appliances, so they were not living in the house - just snooping around.

There wasn't a lot of time to make modifications as these were coworkers who were on a tight time table but good as far as home repair stuff goes. Basically, they put a whole new floor under the dishwasher that fits tight using the thickest pressed plywood you could use, used some kind of concrete grit/sand caulking around all openings that rodents can't chew due to the grit and stuff in it, and finished any other gaps or holes they found with either new boarding with that caulking, or metal plating and steel wool combinations, etc. It's obviously not completely "Rat proof" but it's now at least solid, and as I said earlier I did toss some poison under the crawl space a day or two ago (yeah, I know), but that might also kick in. Hey, none of it might work. I still left a trap down on the floor "just in case" and half of me expects to here that squeal again tonight like the last two nights - but hopefully not.

I did call one critter removal place and might still have them come over since they do free estimates to see what levels of stuff they offer at what price, though.

And no, no Cats here, and no Jack Russel either. I had three dogs and after the last one passed I said I would go a good long while before getting another pet. Love pets, but they do tie you down. I needed a break from the responsibility (and expense) for a while. Plus I know people who have Cats and not all of them according to what they say are Rat hunters - and Jack Russels - FAR too hyper for me.

Someone came over today and fixed the area. Basic story - the floor under the dishwasher had rotted out leaving a large gaping hole under it directly down 18" through the crawlspace. The Rats were coming up there, under the dishwasher, and then coming through a gap that surrounded a water line that goes to the fridge and then coming into the house via that route. There was no evidence of poop behind any of the appliances, so they were not living in the house - just snooping around.

There wasn't a lot of time to make modifications as these were coworkers who were on a tight time table but good as far as home repair stuff goes. Basically, they put a whole new floor under the dishwasher that fits tight using the thickest pressed plywood you could use, used some kind of concrete grit/sand caulking around all openings that rodents can't chew due to the grit and stuff in it, and finished any other gaps or holes they found with either new boarding with that caulking, or metal plating and steel wool combinations, etc. It's obviously not completely "Rat proof" but it's now at least solid, and as I said earlier I did toss some poison under the crawl space a day or two ago (yeah, I know), but that might also kick in. Hey, none of it might work. I still left a trap down on the floor "just in case" and half of me expects to here that squeal again tonight like the last two nights - but hopefully not.

I did call one critter removal place and might still have them come over since they do free estimates to see what levels of stuff they offer at what price, though.

And no, no Cats here, and no Jack Russel either. I had three dogs and after the last one passed I said I would go a good long while before getting another pet. Love pets, but they do tie you down. I needed a break from the responsibility (and expense) for a while. Plus I know people who have Cats and not all of them according to what they say are Rat hunters - and Jack Russels - FAR too hyper for me.

When you are ready to get a cat....get a Manx. First off, they are personality plus....more like a dog than a cat and second, they are ninja hunters. They love to hunt. I mean, they love to hunt.

Good luck with your rat problem.

"There comes a time in your life, when you walk away from all the drama and people who create it. You surround yourself with people who make you laugh. Forget the bad, and focus on the good. Love the people who treat you right, pray for the ones who don't. Life is too short to be anything but happy. Falling down is a part of life, getting back up is living."

When you are ready to get a cat....get a Manx. First off, they are personality plus....more like a dog than a cat and second, they are ninja hunters. They love to hunt. I mean, they love to hunt.

Good luck with your rat problem.

Good not agree more!I had a Manx named Mickey. (God rest his soul)He was such a lover!And the one mouse that ever attempted to get in the house, never made it farther than the front stairs.And if you didn't watch him, Mickey would steal the crawfish out the fish tank too!He was a natural born hunter!

.

I.I.T.Y.W.I.M.W.Y.B.M.A.D.

You shall find me waiting for you in the old cemetery, under the shade of the magnolia tree.............

Ever has it been that love knows not its own depth until the hour of separation.

I've been reading up on these things, and while I knew Rats were smart, I wasn't aware of just how smart they are. Social groups, family groups, can learn more tricks if trained than some dogs (and um, all cats), etc. No wonder they can avoid so many traps - they're smarter than a lot of people!

I think I ID'd the ones we had as "Roof Rats" because they were slightly blackish in color and had tails that were longer than their bodies. Plus while they were Rat sized, they were not HUGE like Norway (or Sewer) Rats. I said earlier that I had tossed some poison under the house (yeah, again, I know) but from using a flashlight and looking under there I don't see where much if any of it has been eaten. It could be that they are in "scout" mode to find things for nests, etc., and are not really hungry - there are acorn trees around here and I know all rodents like acorns, etc. I was trying to find some natural or chemical Rat repellents and found articles about mint oil and stuff, but then other articles will say those things really don't work, etc.

Just as a FYI though, when I called one place to ask about a possible estimate, they said they had a record number of calls this year about Rats in homes so far. Seems the warm Winters lately and possibly other conditions have caused a rise in their population.

we heard scratching and knawing in our attic a few years back called a professional and was told roof rats we were astounded.told there was alot of feces and we bought a couple of the snap traps large ones and put in our attic the professional were gonna charge an arm and leg and we couldnt afford it which included boxes for outside the house around all sides of the house and traps in the attic as well. After a week nothing caught in the traps, but still heard the scratching and knawing we decided to put in smaller snap traps and bingo had 3 field mice in our attic and No roof rats!!! We looked around and thought of how they are getting into the attic we looked and noticed when a house is built they put like a drainage hose around the house not sure what it is called we went and purchased 2 of the wire gutter guard things that go in gutters to prevent leaves from going down into downspouts and we haven't heard anything so far this year.

Good not agree more!I had a Manx named Mickey. (God rest his soul)He was such a lover!And the one mouse that ever attempted to get in the house, never made it farther than the front stairs.And if you didn't watch him, Mickey would steal the crawfish out the fish tank too!He was a natural born hunter!

What about Millie the 8 1/2 pound wonder cat? You ever seen a mouse or rat here? She is terrifying!

Many years ago the brother of the lady I lived with had a rat problem.
To save money to buy a new house he and his wife lived in an old trailer in a field in Cherokee County and they had closed on a new house.
Back then Cherokee was very rural and they had started having a rat problem the last month of their stay in the trailer.
Anyway, a couple of days before the move, the rats had gotten very brave and very annoying and late one night they woke the brother up with all their scratching and noise.
He had finally had all he could take and grabbed his 12 gauge shotgun and started firing away.
To this day I have to chuckle at the thought of him, in his underwear, standing on the bed blowing holes in the trailer floor and walls while yelling at the top of his lungs; take that you (blanking, blanking) rats!

In this case the rats won, no one ever moved back into that trailer.
At least they won for a time, today a strip mall sits where the trailer did.
By the way, he missed every rat.

Edited by stradial, 23 September 2012 - 01:55 PM.

"If you want any one thing too badly, it's likely to turn out to be a disappointment." "The only healthy way to live life is to learn to like all the little everyday things, like a sip of good whiskey in the evening, a soft bed, a glass of buttermilk, or a feisty gentleman like myself."

Many years ago the brother of the lady I lived with had a rat problem. To save money to buy a new house he and his wife lived in an old trailer in a field in Cherokee County and they had closed on a new house.Back then Cherokee was very rural and they had started having a rat problem the last month of their stay in the trailer.Anyway, a couple of days before the move, the rats had gotten very brave and very annoying and late one night they woke the brother up with all their scratching and noise.He had finally had all he could take and grabbed his 12 gauge shotgun and started firing away.To this day I have to chuckle at the thought of him, in his underwear, standing on the bed blowing holes in the trailer floor and walls while yelling at the top of his lungs; take that you (blanking, blanking) rats!

In this case the rats won, no one ever moved back into that trailer. At least they won for a time, today a strip mall sits where the trailer did. By the way, he missed every rat.

When you are ready to get a cat....get a Manx. First off, they are personality plus....more like a dog than a cat and second, they are ninja hunters. They love to hunt. I mean, they love to hunt.

Good luck with your rat problem.

Yours are very special cats.

Many years ago the brother of the lady I lived with had a rat problem. To save money to buy a new house he and his wife lived in an old trailer in a field in Cherokee County and they had closed on a new house.Back then Cherokee was very rural and they had started having a rat problem the last month of their stay in the trailer.Anyway, a couple of days before the move, the rats had gotten very brave and very annoying and late one night they woke the brother up with all their scratching and noise.He had finally had all he could take and grabbed his 12 gauge shotgun and started firing away.To this day I have to chuckle at the thought of him, in his underwear, standing on the bed blowing holes in the trailer floor and walls while yelling at the top of his lungs; take that you (blanking, blanking) rats!

In this case the rats won, no one ever moved back into that trailer. At least they won for a time, today a strip mall sits where the trailer did. By the way, he missed every rat.

Reminds me of a guy I knew that was scared of snakes. When out fishing along the banks one dropped into his boat. Yep..he grabbed his gun and shot the boat full of holes trying to kill it as he stood on the seat. Good thing he was near shore or he would have been swimming.

Everyone seems normal until you get to know them.

Daily Thought: SOME PEOPLE ARE LIKE SLINKIES. NOT REALLY GOOD FOR ANYTHING BUT THEY BRING A SMILE TO YOUR FACE WHEN PUSHED DOWN THE STAIRS

Handle every stressful situation like a dog. If you can't eat it or play with it Just pee on it and walk away.

s.l.u.t Stressed-out Ladies Unwinding Together

"People are born so that they can learn how to live a good life like loving everybody all the time and being nice.....dogs already know how to do that, so they don't have to stay as long

When you are ready to get a cat....get a Manx. First off, they are personality plus....more like a dog than a cat and second, they are ninja hunters. They love to hunt. I mean, they love to hunt.

Good luck with your rat problem.

My dad had a manx cat named Pete.A lazier cat never lived.True story (not one bit exagerated): I saw Pete in my dad's front yard stalking a bird, the bird was no more than 6' away from Pete.Pete crouched and took a couple of steps towards the bird, then apparently wore out, he laid down and went to sleep.The bird never moved.The squirrels and birds never feared Pete, they just ignored him, you would see Pete sleeping and the birds and squirrels playing within a few feet of Pete.

My dad always said Pete was a great intellectual hunter who spent a lot of time thinking about how he was going to get his "man" and after all that planning, he needed a nap.I never once saw Pete run, if fact I am not sure I ever saw Pete move more than 10' at one time.I guess Pete was the exception that proves the rule when it comes to manx cats.But then he was an exception to most cats.

"If you want any one thing too badly, it's likely to turn out to be a disappointment." "The only healthy way to live life is to learn to like all the little everyday things, like a sip of good whiskey in the evening, a soft bed, a glass of buttermilk, or a feisty gentleman like myself."

Mel-------------------------------------------------------An optomist may not get there any faster, but he'll enjoy the trip more If you believe you can, you can --- and if you can't, at least you believed you could!